Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J E Collins.
Hypoglycaemia in birth-asphyxiated and small-for-dates infants is commonly attributed to glycogen depletion. However, 3 infants with asphyxia at birth and 3 small-for-dates infants had unequivocal hyperinsulinism. This suggests that hyperinsulinism may contribute to hypoglycaemia in small-for-dates and asphyxiated neonates.
Resection of the terminal ileum for necrotizing enterocolitis is not uncommon in neonates requiring intensive care in the first weeks of life. They may therefore be at risk of vitamin B12 malabsorption, and later of vitamin B12 deficiency. A method of measuring B12 absorption is described and the results are given. This assessment should be part of the follow up for all these children.
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This is a case report of a male infant who was hypotonic at birth, failed to maintain his respiratory effort, and despite ventilation died at 27 days of age. Infrequent fetal movements were noted and the possibility of a neuromuscular disorder was suggested antenatally. Electromyography in the neonatal period was indicative of a neurogenic disorder, but muscle biopsy at 16 days of age showed the characteristic histologic appearance of myotubular (centronuclear) myopathy. There was no family history of muscle disease, and the mother has subsequently given birth to a normal male child. The relationship of the present case to other reports of severe congenital myotubular myopathy is discussed.
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Thirty-two cases of connective tissue sarcoma were treated by local excision immediately followed by a radioactive implant, sometimes supplemented by external radiation. The method is effective in preventing local recurrence, and is particularly valuable for patients in whom persistent local recurrences following simple excision have occurred. The patient experiences little extra discomfort, and complications are unusual; hazard to staff is low. Long-term survival appears to be just as good in our series as in others in which radical surgery was used, the radical surgery has the disadvantages of greater operative morbidity and mortality, causes greater disfiguration, and may in any case be impossible for tumours in certain anatomical sites.
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It has been demonstrated previously that mixed cell suspensions from the female reproductive tract consisting of human epithelial and stromal cells were capable of presenting foreign antigen to autologous T cells. There have been, however, no reported studies examining antigen presentation by isolated epithelial cells from the human female reproductive tract. It is now shown that freshly isolated epithelial cells from the uterine endometrium constitutively express MHC class II antigen and that class II was upregulated on cultured epithelium by interferon gamma (IFNgamma). Using a highly purified preparation, it was demonstrated that these epithelial cells were able to process and present tetanus toxoid recall antigen driving autologous T cell proliferation. Cells isolated from the basolateral sub-epithelium stroma were also potent antigen presenting cells in this model system. Thus, isolated endometrial epithelial cells were able to directly process and present antigen to T cells and may be responsible for the transcytosis and delivery of antigen to professional antigen presenting cells found in the sub-epithelial stroma.
Desmocollins are cadherin-like adhesion molecules of desmosomes. We have determined the full cDNA sequence of a murine desmocollin, the homologue of human and bovine type 2 desmocollins (DSC2), and studied its tissue distribution and expression in stratified epithelia. An 8.5 day mouse embryo cDNA library was screened yielding overlapping clones which encoded the mouse DSC2. This gene has an open reading frame of 2710 base pairs (bp) encoding a polypeptide of 902 amino acids (aa). The polypeptide comprises a signal peptide, a precursor peptide, and a mature protein of 766 aa having an extracellular domain of 549 aa, a single transmembrane domain and a cytoplasmic domain of 184 aa. Like other desmocollins, murine DSC2 has two products, Dsc2a and Dsc2b, produced by alternative splicing of a 46 bp exon which encodes 11 COOH-terminal aa followed by an in-frame stop codon. Inclusion of this exon forms Dsc2b which is 54 aa shorter than Dsc2a. Mouse Dsc2a shows 75.7% amino acid identity to human and 63.3% identity to bovine Dsc2a. The mouse desmocollin is also homologous to the cadherins; 32.2% to the most closely related typical cadherin, human N-cadherin. DSC2 is ubiquitously expressed in epithelial tissues and the heart of adult mice and from the blastocyst stage of development. In situ hybridization shows that the gene is most strongly expressed suprabasally in stratified epithelia, similar to the expression of bovine DSC2.
Foodborne illness of microbial origin is the most serious food safety problem in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 79% of outbreaks between 1987 and 1992 were bacterial; improper holding temperature and poor personal hygiene of food handlers contributed most to disease incidence. Some microbes have demonstrated resistance to standard methods of preparation and storage of foods. Nonetheless, food safety and public health officials attribute a rise in incidence of foodborne illness to changes in demographics and consumer lifestyles that affect the way food is prepared and stored. Food editors report that fewer than 50% of consumers are concerned about food safety. An American Meat Institute (1996) study details lifestyle changes affecting food behavior, including an increasing number of women in the workforce, limited commitment to food preparation, and a greater number of single heads of households. Consumers appear to be more interested in convenience and saving time than in proper food handling and preparation.
Measurement of the effect of therapy is a principle in the provision of all care, including respiratory therapy of newborns. Crucial to such measurement are guidelines of respiratory therapy services. The author offers a method for establishment of these guidelines, as well as a literature review of the outcomes of infants who required respiratory care.
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